Dragonborn
by Summer Gambit
Summary: She never really liked so called "Mary Sue's" and now she can easily be considered one. But there's more going on than the "simple" (*cough* *cough*) adventure of One Piece. Something ancient has awakened. They will show the World Government that they're not that easy to get rid off. The return of the dragons is coming.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I set my G-Docs to British English for this story. English isn't my native tongue, please bear with me.**

In an apartment was a woman working in the kitchen, waiting for her rather simple meal to be finished. Normally she was above the prospect of fast food, such as the dish she prepared herself in the microwave. However, since there was nothing to be heated up and the fact that the woman felt too hungry to put a pizza into the oven, it couldn't be helped. In her opinion at least.

Finally the microwave stopped with a "DING" and the food was ready. Letting out a sigh, the woman took out the plastic package with a flannel and proceeded to walk into the living room. Placing everything on a nearby table, the woman slumped back onto her couch, grabbed for the remote and turned on the TV.

"I did not sleep with another one." said a man on a rather popular talkshow. He and two women, one obviously being the moderator, stood next to a high table.

"Liar." the woman on TV and the one sitting on the couch said at the same time, one being oblivious to the coincidence.

"I saw you, I saw you coming out of Jessica's place-"

"Oh so, just 'cause I was visiting a friend, who I know from middle-school-"

"Yeah, right. A 'friend.' As if."

Unbeknownst to the woman sitting on the couch, there was another person in the house. Silently the person had made her way inside and took off her boots, to be sure said person's steps wouldn't make a noise. In one of it's hands, the person carried a gun. The person walked up to the couch, the woman too absorbed into the talk show to even notice the other person. Seeing this the person thought to itself, it might as well have kept the boots on.

The person raised its arm and pulled off the safety. Only after the audible click could be heard, did the woman on the couch finally turn around. Too late.

Her eyes barely had time to widen in shock, before…

 ***BANG***

X-X-X_X-X-X

The rain poured down heavily today. On the radio they even said there was the chance of a tornado hitting the town. The girl standing in the middle of the graveyard ignored such warnings. She didn't even had an umbrella with her. In fact, her overall clothing didn't seem appropriate neither for the weather nor for the location. She wore a tight leather jacket, with the zipper closed, black leather pants and high leather boots. Her hair was naturally a deep red, it reached down to her waist, her skin was healthy brown, since up until recently she had been on the beach and her eyes were brown. Normally she wore a ponytail to keep her hair in check, but from time to time she just felt like letting it hang like it is naturally. The girl's official name was Tatsu Terrence. A strange combination. Her mother was a fan all about Japan and even somehow convinced her husband to give their first daughter a Japanese name. According to the internet it meant: dragon, but whether that was accurate or her mother did poor research was anyone's guess. Even weirder, despite her mother being responsible for the name, she never called her daughter by it. She always called Tatsu, Serada. Fun fact of the month, it was the name of a female dragon out of a children's book. The result of THAT name was that most people, even her teachers called the girl Sarah.

"Hey mom." the girl with many names talked to the grave in front of her. "Thought I should tell you that dad is back on the ship. I'm alone again. You know, aunt Morgen is supposed to look after me, but you know her. She comes back once a month and s back to wherever her money takes her. Today she decided to travel to Las Vegas." Sarah laughed. "Maybe she'll lose all the money she inherited from uncle Ray. Besides, I'm already an adult."

A thunder could be heard in the distance. The rain got even worse.

"Yeah, I better go home. I know how much you hate it, when I'm out in the rain without the "proper clothing." Yeah, yeah, I get that. See, you around." The girl waved off and ran towards the church as fast as her feet could take her. As she ran, the girl wondered whether the busses were on the streets or not.

"Sarah!"

The shout interrupted her running as well, as her train of thought. Looking to her right, she saw Pastor Karsten standing in the doorway of the church.

"Get in here, before you catch a cold!" he shouted, gesturing with his arm to come.

Shaking her head in amusement, Sarah ran into the building, with the pastor closing the door behind her.

"Are you insane, girl? There was a storm warning on the radio! Now look at you! Wet to the bone. Let me see, if I can get you some clothes. Although the only things we have here are some robes and costumes for the christmas play."

"No need, pastor." Sarah waved off. "Remember? Leather. I don't get soaked in these." In order to prove her point, Sarah took off her jacket and revealed a completely dry black t-shirt.

The pastor could only shake his head. "At least let me get you a towel and something warm to drink. Heavens, it will be a miracle if you don't catch a cold." The grumpy pastor made his way towards the altar. To the left was a door, which let to where he prepared the fair for each Sunday.

Sarah placed herself on one of the benches near the only heater in the entire hall. Five minutes later the pastor came back with a cup of coffee and a white towel. The girl used the latter to get at least some of the water out of her hair. She already left a little puddle beneath where she was sitting.

"What are you doing here, child? Shouldn't you be at home?" the pastor asked.

"Eh." the girl shrugged. "Trains not working, so I can't make it to school at least for the next two days." she grinned, to which the pastor chuckled.

"You know exactly what I mean. I know it's a nice gesture of you, but there's really no need to come every week."

The girl shrugged again. "Yet I'm doing it anyways. What do you care?"

"I care for your well being." the man said a little more aggressive. "I hate to be so blunt, but you need to put the past behind you. How long has it been now? 3 years?"

"And 2 months, 14 days and around half an hour." Sarah deadpanned. "Just leave me alone pastor. I don't get why you care anyway. I don't belief in god or anything for that matter, not to mention about what happened last year."

The pastor sighed and placed himself next to the girl. "Listen Tatsu. I know it is hard to let go and you should know by now that you can talk to me. And if not me, how about your father?"

"Pops is more bothered by wasting his life for a wasteful country." the girl retorted sharply.

"...You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"I couldn't care less!" The girl stood up. "Listen, I appreciate the gesture and all, but if you don't shut the fuck up, I'll make sure your judgement day comes early! You got me, you fucking fanatic?!"

The pastor could feel spit hitting his face, as the girl let out her anger. He realized that he had gone too far and that after even all those years, family was a touchy subject for the girl.

Said girl took in a deep breath and let it out through her teeth.

"I'm sorry. I leave you to yourself for now. If you need anything" he stood up "you know where you can find me."

"Get lost." Sarah hissed at the man, who did just that.

Back in his office, the pastor let out another sigh, he'd been holding in. The man of the church walked over to his desk and picked up a picture, which showed three people standing and smiling in front of the church. One of them was wearing a uniform. The female one in the middle hugged the man in uniform.

"Why did this have to happen?" he mumbled. "Sometimes the world really is a cruel place." he put the picture back and placed himself in front of his desk. A box with today's mail was beneath the desk, which the pastor picked up and placed on the desk. He quickly skimmed through everything, most of them being bills anyway, but one letter stood out. It was written in a neat handwriting, one he could swear he saw somewhere before, but couldn't put his finger on it. Curiously he opened the envelope, which accidentally caused a small pendant to fall out. The man picked it up from his desk and took a good look at it. It seemed to be a custom made stone, attached to a black cord. The stone itself was black with flames carved into it.

"This looks nice." the pastor commented. "I wonder who send it." he said, as he began reading the letter.

 _Dear Pastor Collins,_

 _this letter might come to a surprise to you and I dearly hope you will never get to see it. However if you read this, then something has happened to me. The stone you hold in your hands is an old family treasure, given to the oldest child from generation to generation. The flames have the symbolic meaning of being reborn in flames, like the mythical phoenix. I would love to tell you the story behind this, but alas, I would have to write you an entire novel._

 _I had this letter addressed to you on the day, the stone is given to the next generation, half a year after the eighteenth birthday. It causes me great sadness, just thinking that I have to take this precaution, so my family's legacy lives on._

 _I ask of you to bring this pendant to Tatsu. And please don't read on from now on. The following words are for my daughter._

 _Always your friend,_

 _Laurana Terrance_

"Dear Lord." Pastor Collins spoke a silent prayer to the heavens. "Laurana...if only you knew how much she misses you."

X-X-X_X-X-X

Pastor Collins found Sarah sipping on her coffee and looking at the big bronze Jesus hanging behind the altar. No doubt she was thinking back to when she spray painted the last bronze Jesus on easter. He would never admit it, but never in his life had Collins seen such a good looking Jesus.

"Sarah."

Said girl snapped her head towards the man. Obviously she had yet to calm down.

"What is it?" she growled.

In response, the pastor held out the letter. "This is for you."

"For me?" Sarah asked, genuinely confused. Then she remembered last years prank and came to the conclusion it was maybe from some higher up church member, deciding he found the need to scold her.

 _My dearest Serada,_

 _how are you holding up? Do you still hide under the bed, whenever there is thunder outside? If so, don't be ashamed. Everyone is afraid of something. If not, congratulations of overcoming your fear._

 _I wish I never had to write this letter, but my grandmother basically drilled it into me to be better safe than sorry. You see, our family has a little ancient tradition, in giving a special stone to the oldest child half a year after they become an adult. You will see that there are flames carved on the surface of the stone. The story behind this is quite long and I sincerely hope to live long enough to tell you the story. Basically the flames stand for starting your own life, after you become an adult. As in you're no longer living with your parents, but on your own. I am sorry. I want to tell you the entire story, but for the sake of this letter, I need to dumb it down._

 _What I can tell you is that from now on, you decide what you do with your life. Expect a life changing event to happen very soon, my dearest. Remember I will always love you, no matter what path you choose._

 _Goodbye my daughter._

 _In love,_

 _Xara_

 _P.S.: This is the name my mother gave me. Remember to give your children one as well._

Serada looked up from the letter and into the pastor's face. She hugged the man in front of her, tears starting to stream down her face.

X-X-X_X-X-X

The storm didn't seem to get any weaker anytime soon. As a result, Pastor Collins decided to drive the girl home, as long as you could still drive on the streets. Sarah didn't say a word on the entire way. She just kept staring at the pendant, the last gift from her mother.

When they arrived, Sarah left the car without a word. She even took her time, while going back into her family's house. There she didn't even bother to take off her shoes or get another towel for her dripping wet hair. She layed down on the couch in the living room and hugged the pendant close to her chest. The thunderstorm continued outside, as she fell asleep.

In her dream, Serada was at peace. She floated through warm water, the current taking her wherever it felt like. She wasn't afraid of drowning, because there was no need to breath. Her eyes didn't mind the water too. Wherever she looked, there was always this red glow coming from somewhere.

The current took her deeper and deeper into the water. For some reason neither the pressure on Serada's ears nor did it get any darker. The floating girl wasn't bothered by this. In fact, she wasn't really thinking at all. She let the water move her body however it pleased, a little upwards, then down again, to the left and right, flipping her upside down…

Eventually it all came to a stop. Serada was in the middle of the red ocean, slowly floating up and down. A small shadow came closer in the blurry distance. As time passed it became bigger and bigger, until it finally took shape. Although it was hard to tell, Serada could clearly make out a head. It kind of reminded her of a lizard. Soon enough the head took in her full vision, making it impossible for her to make out the rest of the body of whatever this creature was. Eventually the girl could make out a pair of yellow eyes. The pupils were slitted like the ones of a lizard.

Finally the head of the thing was right in front of her. Serada was able to see a snout, now that it was up front and close to her. The big creature eyed her with it's big yellow eyes. Serada looked back at the creature without fear. If Serada would have looked down, she would have seen the creature's face spread a wide grin.

It floated back a couple of feet and opened his mouth. Despite being under water, flames came out of the creature's mouth, engulfing Serada completely. She didn't feel any pain at all, in fact it actually felt good. It was as if something inside of her was breaking free, after being locked away for all of her lifetime.

X-X-X_X-X-X

Sarah woke up, gasping in pain. Her chest was burning! It was as if someone held an open flame right at the spot where her heart was located. As quickly as she could, she took off her jacket and top. Just in time she could see the flame-lines of the stone she received the day before, glowing in a red light. To top it off, the stone was going _inside_ of her chest!

Desperately and without thinking, she tried to grab the stone with her fingers, but at this point it was already too deep inside of her. With horror and slight fascination she watched as the stone went underneath her skin. The spot where it had been was once again covered with her skin. However, it was at that point that the pain became unbearable. Sarah cramped up, grunting as her heart seemed to be cooked right here and then. She found it hard to breath and thought that she was gonna die.

But then just as soon as the pain appeared, it subsided. Sarah was capable of breathing normal again. The girl was still in shock, she layed on the ground for quite a while, until she finally calmed down.

"That. Was. Fucking. Horrifying." Sarah punctuated every word. Slowly she stretched her slightly numb limbs, grabbing her top and jacket in the process. Still on the ground, she put her clothes back on.

Not even trying to wrap her head around what just happened, the girl tried to stand up, silently hoping she just imagined everything. However her head still wasn't all there, as the world seemed to be going up and down. She only managed to sat down on the wooden floor.

 _Wait, what?_ In her mind the screeching sound of a tape suddenly stopping. The floor of her house was definitely **NOT** wooden. It was marble!

"Wha-?!" Looking around she found that there were ropes seemingly everywhere, a big wooden rod, a mast, was only a few feet away from her. In front of her she could clearly see the figurehead of a ship pointing towards the night sky. Sails, reeling, the sea, the cabins! She was on a ship, there was no denying it! Giving everything that happened, there was only one thing left to do:

" **WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"**


	2. Chapter 2

" **WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"**

The sudden noise woke Usopp up, who had been sitting in the crows. The sharpshooter and professional liar of the Strawhat Pirates, accidentally hit the back of his head against the pole behind.

"Owwwwwww, ow, ow, ow, ow…"

 _Oh man. Did I fall asleep again on watch duty?! Ugh, I hope the others didn't notice- wait! What was that sound?_

Shivering, the bravest man in the world, looked down from the crow's nest. What he saw almost made him wet his pants. On deck was a shadowy figure walking up and down mumbling to itself. He couldn't see it completely, but he knew by now the general shapes of his crewmembers. This person was definitely none of them. As soon as he realized this, he hid behind the tiny wall again.

 _Oh no! I fell asleep and now our ship got infiltrated! Who is this?! The marines? Other pirates?! Ah, who cares! I need to wake up the others, without this guy noticing me! It's time to use Captain Usopp's incredible, secret, stealth technique!_

Usopp looked down again, finding the figure mumbling to itself again. He didn't question this motion. At least it meant, the guy hadn't secretly stabbed one of the other crewmembers. As silently as he could, the sharpshooter climbed onto the robe. He took his first few steps, but stopped. For his taste, the infiltrator was much too close to his destination. After intervening his arms with the ropes, he pulled out his slingshot and a little bullet. He quickly took aim and shot into a far off corner of the Going Merry.

"Huh?" Usopp definitely made out a female voice. The woman appeared to be slightly startled by the sudden noise near the barrels. Much too slowly, in the sharpshooter's opinion, moved the woman to the barrels. Slingshot still in hand, Usopp continued his descent onto deck. He watched as the figure as silently as possible inspected the barrels. It seemed like she found nothing off and was about to turn around again. Thinking quickly, Usopp shot another time, into a different corner.

"What the-?!" the woman put her hand over her mouth. The sharpshooter had to smirk.

He increased his pace, because he knew the woman wouldn't waste much time on looking at the other corner. Walking on his toes, Usopp opened the door to the cabins. Sadly he had yet to oil the creaking door.

"Hey!" he heard the woman shout. Not even looking behind, the man ran inside and quickly barricaded the door with a chair. Two seconds later the doorknob was moving, but was blocked by the chair. Smirking once again, the brave warrior of the sea ran like a chicken to wake up his crewmates.

X-X-X_X-X-X

"Crap, now what?" Sarah asked herself. First she got a letter from her dead mother with some kind of family treasure, then the stupid stone got **somehow** inside of her chest, next thing she knew, she was on a ship, an old model judging from the lack of a motor and finally one of the crewmembers had seen her and no doubt was about to call the rest. As freaked out as she was over everything, she needed to focus on the problem at hand. Namely what kind of excuse she would tell the crew as to why she was on their ship. She was about to pace around again, when she heard a sudden scream coming out of the inside of the ship.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Uh, what?"

Out of nowhere the door exploded, splinters flying everywhere on the ship.

"THE HELL!?" Sarah fell back on her butt, instinctively raising her arms to protect her face. Shakingly she lowered the arms and opened her eyes again. What she saw literally made her jaw drop. For the first time she experienced what one would call total awe and shock. Right in front of her stood, not animated and definitely not a bad cosplay, Monkey D. Luffy, from the anime One Piece, surrounded by the splinters of the door he just kicked (or punched? She didn't see) open. And he looked pissed.

 _Am I still dreaming?_

"Gummo-Gummo-No…"

 _Is his arm stretching back?! Dream or no dream, I definitely DON'T want to get punched by that!_

Glad that she had taken self defense classes, not to mention the training her father insisted on putting her through. That she was generally in good shape was another point for her. Only the face that her hair was still loose was to her disadvantage. When she rolled sideways, in order to escape the incoming fist, her hair got in her face.

"PISTOL!"

*CRACK*

 _Oh my motherfucking godshit! He punched right through the wood! That's not just some thin plate there!_

Sarah stared in shock. If she would be watching this from a TV screen, she would probably laugh at how Luffy's arm was stuck in the ground of the ship. But definitely not, when she had been the target just a couple of seconds ago.

Sarah was thrown out of her state of shock, when the Straw Hat managed to pull out his fist and accidentally managed to hit himself.

"Ow." the boy whined, before returning his attention to the unknown girl.

"Uh...hi?" _Real smooth._

"Take this!" Instead of using one of his signature moves, Luffy simple shot his fist towards the girl. Yelping in surprise, Sarah raised her arms and managed to block the attack.

 _Damn! This guy is strong!_

"My turn!" Sarah exclaimed and quickly gave Luffy a quick one-two combination straight on the face. However, she forgot that Luffy had eaten a devil fruit, which turned his body into rubber. It should have come to no surprise that all the attack did was to push the head back a little, before it came back into position.

"What the fucking hell? Urgh." Sarah facepalmed. "Devil fruit. AHH!" Luffy apparently used the moment to kick her chest, which sent her flying a few feet, before she landed hardly on the ground.

"Oww...urgh...wait. I'm...alright?" she wondered aloud, getting up.

"Gummo-Gummo-No-RIFLE!"

"Fuck!" Sarah ducked during the announcement of the attack. Luckily her opponent actually proceeded with the attack, after he finished his announcement, meaning the arm stretch over the girl, before it came back to the captain. Not even fazed by this, Luffy ran towards his opponent and proceeded with regular punches. This was something Sarah could deal with. The boy's attacks were predictable at best, so she managed to block off most attacks and the few that went through she managed to endure. Of course she tried to hit back, not because she planned on injuring the captain, but to get some breathing room, so she could think of how to solve this situation. However, Luffy blocked around half of her counterattacks and the other half simply didn't do anything. His body just absorbed the full force of her blows and sometimes even kicks.

After one especially powerful blow to her face, Sarah was sent flying once again and again landed on her butt, hard.

"Fuck! That hurts!" she exclaimed. _But that's it! It hurts yes, my face stings, but...it's not like in the anime. I'm not K.O. or something._

"Gumo-Gumo-Gumo-No…"

 _Right, think later, fight- OH SHIT, NOT THAT ATTACK!_

"GATLING!"

Luffy send out seemingly hundreds of punches in quick session, hitting everything in front of him. Which was basically nothing. Sarah was pretty sure she sweatdropped right at this moment. Because she was still lying on the ground, none of the attacks actually hit her. Even Luffy, after five whole minutes, noticed the lack of impact. Looking up, he saw what was going on and stopped his assault, which finally allowed Sarah to get up.

"I swear…" she muttered. "I need something sharp, else I won't be able to do anything."

"Shishishi, you're smart." Luffy grinned.

"Thanks...I guess. Uh, do you mind if we stop fighting for a moment and you let me explain what is going on."

"NEVER! I WON'T LET YOU STEAL MY MEAT!"

"Steal your meat?!" Sarah echoed.

"Aha! You confessed!" he pointed dramatically at her.

"I DID NO SUCH THING!" the girl shouted back with razor teeth.

 _Something sharp, something sharp, something…_

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy exclaimed once again, running to his opponent with a raised fist.

"Damn it!" Sarah ducked from the attack and pushed the Straw Hat back with both hands. At least that still worked like it should, even if Luffy only stumbled back a few steps.

"My hands are sweating." the girl complained, taking off her gloves and then finally taking an actual fighting stands, whipping her feet back and forth.

She just decided to try and throw the rubber dude overboard, when suddenly something happened. In a matter of seconds black scales were growing all over her body. Her fingernails extended to claws and her overall skin felt different.

"Cool!" Literal stars could be seen in Luffy's face, as the transformation progressed and finished around Sarah's faced. The girl almost groaned, as she felt her teeth extending and sharpening.

"What the hell is going on now?!" the girl shouted.

"Your eyes look so cool!"

"My eyes?! You know, what?" the lizard-like girl let out a deep sigh. "I don't give a fuck anymore." she said resigned. "Let's just get this over with." _And hope this is all just a drug induced dream._

Taking the advantage this time, Sarah ran towards Luffy and took aim with her fist. Shortly before she came into range, she opened her hand, took swing and slashed down. Luffy, who was expecting a punch, widened his eyes in shock, when the newly developed claws of the "meat thief" cut through his skin.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, that hurts!" the boy exclaimed, taking a few steps back.

Sarah normally would have let out a deadpan comment, if it wouldn't have been for her surprise, as to how easily she just cut with her claws through bare skin.

She was put out of her stupor, when Luffy stretched both of his arms back.

"Gomu-Gomu-No…"

 _Oh shit, not the Bazooka!_

"BA-"

"LUFFY!" A male voice shouted, right when a dark figure gave the captain a good kick in the stomach, sending the boy flying upwards.

"HOW DARE YOU HIT A WOMAN YOU LITTLE PUNK?!" Sanji exclaimed, his eyes literally, LITERALLY, burning with passion. The fire turned immediately off and was replaced by hearts, when Sanji turned towards the newcomer.

"Excuse me, my lady. I am afraid my captain does not know how to treat a lady such as yourself."

In the background, Luffy slammed face first on deck.

"Uh..."

By now, Sarah was at a complete loss for words. She just didn't know what she was supposed to say. This entire day just had been so full of surprises, she just wanted to go back to sleep and hope this was all just one heck of a weird dream. Her wish was partially granted, by Zoro slamming the handle of his sword against the back of her head. He hit a particular weak spot, which caused the unwilling intruder to drop unconscious to the ground.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, MOSS HEAD?!"

"What does it look like, ero cook?"

"YOU JUST HIT A LADY!"

"I knocked out an intruder." Zoro stated as matter of fact. "For all we know, she might be a bounty hunter."

"THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE THAT YOU HIT A LADY!" Sanji shouted frustrated.

"Sanji, be quiet." came the voice of Nami, who was standing at the door towards her personal cabin. She had thrown a bathrobe over her usual nightgown, coming to look what the noise was all about, only to find her idiot captain, fighting this girl right there. Luffy just managed to get his head out of the ground.

"Oi, Sanji, Zoro. Have you seen the meat thief?" Luffy asked, looking around.

"She's not a meat thief." Zoro facepalmed. "Usopp just told you that, so you would actually wake up and fight her." the swordsman explained, throwing the girl over his shoulder.

"Oi, oi! Be careful with her, moss head." Sanji complained, which Zoro decided to ignore this once.

"Anyway." Nami walked to the boys. "I looked around, there is no boat attached to the Going Merry. She must have snuck on board, when we were docked on Warship Island." she speculated.

"So what now? Do we go back and leave her there?" Sanji asked, lightening up a cigarette, in order to calm fully down.

"I'd say we question her first and then we decide what we do with her." Nami explained. "One of you guys needs to watch over her for the night. Preferably not Usopp."

"Oi Nami, I already told you! She was just there! I didn't hear a door opening or anything, until she was on deck!" the sharpshooter shouted towards them, currently busy replacing the planks Luffy had damaged with his first attack.

"Yeah, right." Nami deadpanned.

"I'll watch her." Sanji volunteered. "I need to prepare breakfast anyway in an hour."

"As long as you don't let her trick you, curly brow."

"What was that, you shitty swordsman?"

X-X-X_X-X-X

A few hours later, the Straw Hat Pirates were all gathered at the breakfast table with their "guest" sleeping in a corner, bound by some spare rope. It didn't escape the pirates that only a few days ago they found themselves in a similar situation with Apis. The only difference was that the little girl had been more or less a guest, whereas the newcomer had somehow snuck on board and avoided the crew so far.

"Who do you think she is?" Usopp pointed at the girl in black. She still had contained her scaly appearance. "Is she a marine?"

"I don't think so." Nami replied. "She didn't have a Den Den Mushi with her. I think a marine agent would at least carry a small one with her."

"She's probably a bounty hunter." Zoro chimed in between bites. "Probably thought she could make some quick cash with Luffy's bounty."

"I can understand that reasoning." Nami nodded.

"But how did she manage to get on board?" asked Sanji. "We have been stuck here with no wind for two days. I checked our supplies and there was nothing missing."

"Maybe she's a mermaid."

"Does she look like a mermaid to you?!" Usopp exclaimed.

"She's got scales!" Luffy declared proudly, almost causing the others to fall of their chairs.

"Luffy, she probably just ate a devil fruit." Sanji explained.

"Oh, well that's cool too! She looks like a lizard or a dragon!"

To that the others had to agree. Almost everyone witnessed the shape of the girl's face changing into something more lizard like. A dragon may be a bit of a stretch, but it certainly would explain the sharp teeth, since normally lizards had none of those.

"Mmmph."

"Oi, oi. She's waking up." Usopp pointed at Sarah, who was slowly beginning to move as much as the binds allowed it. The other Straw Hats watched her curiously, Luffy quickly snatching food from Usopp's plate and munching on it.

Sarah for her part let out a heartily yawn, revealing her sharp, white, shimmering teeth. "Damn, that was one heck of a fucked up dream." she said, trying to stretch herself, only to be stopped by the ropes.

Confused the lizard lady looked down onto herself. "The heck?!" she exclaimed, as she saw the ropes around her body. She immediately looked up and saw the faces of the five Straw Hats looking right back at her.

"Oh. That wasn't a dream yesterday, was it?"

"Nope." Luffy answered with his mouth full.

Groaning, Sarah slammed the back of her head against the wall behind her. "Great. Just fucking great."

"So, who are you?" Luffy asked, before swallowing.

"Serada." Sarah answered almost immediately. _Wait, what? Why did I give them that name? Fuck it, girl! If I take that back now, they'll get even more suspicious!_

"But most people call me Sarah, because it's easier to say."

"I see." Nami stood up from the table and approached Sarah. "And what are you doing on our ship?"

 _Of course, she just had to ask that immediately. What do I say? What do I say? How does it work in fanfictions? Fuck! I never read one that started with the person suddenly appearing on the ship!_

"I have no fucking idea how I got here." Sarah went with the honest answer. "I wasn't even close to the cost up until yesterday. I just woke up here and panicked a little. And then your captain decided to beat me up. By the way, who knocked me out?"

"Interesting." Nami ignored the question. "And how do you know he is our captain?"

"Uh, because of his bounty? Obviously?"

 _Please let him have his bounty already, please let him have his bounty already!_

"At least that makes sense." Usopp said. "But come on! What kind of lie is that? 'I just woke up on this ship and have no idea how I got here.' Likely story." the sharpshooter shook his head.

"Hey, whether you believe me or not is not my problem. I stick to the story."

"Yeah?" Zoro stood up and drew one of his swords. "And what if we decide we're not satisfied and decide to cut your throat?"

Nami wisely held Sanji back, giving him a glare that said: "Let him do his stuff."

 _Alright. Think, think, think. Think faster brain! What could possibly convince them to not throw me overboard and let me stay with them:_

 _I know where a lot of treasure is! Nope, this lie can be way too easily exposed._

 _Ace is gonna die! ...Let's keep it as a last resort._

 _I know about Haki! Yeah, but I can't use it._

 _General knowledge of the Grand Line? No, Luffy's not a fan of spoilers._

 _Threaten to tell everyone about Luffy's grandpa? I don't think that's gonna work._

"I am waiting." Zoro said in a low sing-song voice.

Sarah sighed. "I don't have anything. I stick to my story. I was at home, went to sleep and then woke up on deck last night. What do you think I am? A marine?"

"Maybe?" Zoro shrugged. "But you might as well be a bounty hunter."

"I say we let her go with us."

Everyone hit the ground after Luffy's declaration.

"Okay, I'm gonna point out the obvious." Sarah said, trying to pull herself back up. "I am a complete stranger. I just told you a very unlikely story. So why the hell do you want me to come with you?!"

"See Luffy?! Even the enemy thinks you're being stupid!" Usopp shouted with razor teeth. "Why do you want her to come with us?!"

"So we can get her home." Luffy replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, causing Usopp to drop again.

"Urrgh. I don't know whether to laugh or to hit my head against the wall." Sarah muttered. "There are three problems with that logic. One, how can you trust me? You're practically giving me an invitation to hand you over to the marines. Two, I'm pretty sure you'll have a hard time finding my home. Three, I never sailed even once in my life. Just tell me. How do you plan to solve this? If you can do it, I'll go with you wherever you go, no questions asked."

Luffy stuffed another plate of food into himself, using his rubber body to swallow it all.

"Am I the only one who thinks his throat stretching is creepy?"

"You'll get used to it." Usopp answered.

"I promise you we will find your home, no matter where it is. I don't know how to sail either. And you look really cool."

Sarah hit her head again. Hard. Experiencing Luffy's stupidity was something completely different from watching it on TV.

"I look cool...huh." Sarah had a hard time keeping her balance. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to contain her laughter. She knew she should have suspecting something stupid to come out of Luffy of all people.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Everyone else exclaimed.

"Luffy! Those have to be the most ridiculous reasons I have EVER HEARD!" Nami shouted, hitting her captain on his head, who only let out his signature grin.

"WHY SHOULD WE BRING HER HOME ANYWAYS?! WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF SHE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!" Nami continued with her rant, causing the rest to cringe at the volume of her voice.

"If she doesn't, I can beat her up." shrugged the captain, causing the cook to kick him into the wall.

"No one here will hit a lady on my watch!" the cook proclaimed with a raised fist.

Sarah couldn't help, but chuckle at how the Strawhats interacted with each other. "Uh... if you don't mind answering a simple question: Why do you want to bring me home in the first place? You don't even know where I live and honestly? I have no idea how to get there."

Luffy shook himself like a dog, recovering from the little flight he had just taken. "Eh, you didn't try to kill me."

"Eh, what?"

Luffy grinned. "Yeah, it was kinda obvious. Besides, turns out you're not a meat thief!"

The girl in binds slowly turned towards the swordsman, whose right eye was twitching just a little bit.

"Is he that dumb or is he secretly an evil genius, planning a world changing evil plot?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, it's been a while. Too long if you ask me.**

Sarah rubbed her arms, after Zoro very reluctantly released her from the binds. She was a little surprised, that when Zoro sheathed his swords, it sounded exactly straight out of the anime.

The scaly girl stood up dusting off her clothes. She stopped in her tracks, when she noticed the claw like hands she had now.

"This is really weird." she said out loud, opening and closing her fists a few times.

"What do you mean weird? That's what happens, when you eat a devil fruit." Zoro states as a matter of fact.

The girl turned around to him. _Man, he's bigger than I ever imagined._

"Yeah, well, thing is, I never ate a devil fruit." Sarah clarified.

"Hmm?" the swordsman raised an eyebrow.

"Nonsense. You have to have eaten a devil fruit. How else could you be like that?" Nami pointed at the girl's hand with her finger.

Sarah was about to negate those accusations, but then stopped. A thought entered her head, one that she had in the back of her mind for a while.

"Yeah, whatever." she waved. "Since I'm now an official guest on the ship, mind telling me where the bathroom is?"

The captain of the ship simply pointed at a direction with his thumb, while he continued stuffing himself with the other hand.

"Thanks." Sarah said carefully, leaving the room.

 _This will take some getting used to._

As soon as the uninvited guest was outside, Nami and Usopp gave their captain a good smack over the head, causing him to crash onto the ground.

"Oi! What was that for?!" Luffy whined.

"We just felt like it." the two said resigned. At this point it wasn't even worth being angry at him.

"Honestly Luffy, I know you can be careless, but even you should know that there's something fishy about that girl." Usopp stated, taking a seat back on the table.

"So, she's a mermaid!"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" the sniper shouted.

"Anyways, I think we can all agree that something's weird about her." Nami voiced almost everyone's thought.

Sanji lit up a cigarette, before talking. "I guess if Nami says so, then I have to agree. She must have somehow gotten on board, be it a boat or she snuck onto the ship. There's also another thing I noticed about her."

Everyone looked towards the cook.

"It's about her devil fruit power. I came out just in time to see her transforming. She looked like she was just as surprised as the rest of us."

"Now that you mention it..." Zoro looked up the wall, going through his own memories one more time.

"Yeah." the swordsman nodded. "She definitely looked surprised, when she pulled off her little trick. Though she caught herself pretty fast and started her counterattack."

"And later when she woke up, she thought it was all just a dream." Usopp pointed out. "Although, that might have been because Zoro hit her really hard on the head."

"Luffy, do you really think it's a good idea to let her come with us?" Nami addressed her captain directly.

"Sure! I don't get what you're all so worried about?" the captain grinned, taking yet another bite.

The navigator sighed. Obviously this matter had already been decided for Luffy.

"Do you really think she appeared just out of nowhere?" Usopp asked rhetorically.

"I dunno." Luffy shrugged.

"Of course you don't…"

X

In the meantime, Sarah was watching herself in the mirror, which hung in the bathroom. It was kinda surreal that a ship as small as the Going Merry had an actual bathtub inside, but none the less, at least the lizard girl wouldn't have to worry about body hygiene. It didn't change the fact that she had only one set of clothes with her. She shook her head.

 _Now's not the time to worry about clothes. What happened to me? Why am I here? Am I actually here or am I still dreaming?! This is so surreal, yet at the same time it had never felt this real._

She approached the sink, looking at all the different toothbrushes, shampoos and other stuff around it.

 _Nothing looks cartoony in any way. Shavers for men and women, brushes, soap...and it doesn't even look that clean, like in the anime. The toilet even smells a little._

Raising a hand or rather claw, she touched her own, now scaly face.

 _And this. It's like someone has given me devil fruit powers, without me actually eating one. But at the same time it might as well be the thing mom...left me. But...this raises so many other questions. Like, was mom from this world? Or maybe an ancestor of mine? And how did I get here in the first place. Is there even a way back?_

…

 _Can I somehow reverse this? How did I transform in the first place? Let's see, I was fighting Luffy…...still so surreal….and I needed something….sharp…_

"Urgh." Sarah groaned, falling onto her butt. She grabbed her head with both hands, trying to suppress the upcoming headache. She pretty much failed. The entire situation was just too much for her brain to comprehend. Rubbing her temples didn't ease the pain at all. So she just gave up and sat around for a while.

It wasn't really until she could feel the ship starting to move, which was 20 minutes later, that she started to stir. It wasn't the feeling of the waves pushing the ship up and down, no, it felt clearly like the ship was moving forward. Sarah pulled herself together and got up again. Even though she had still to get settled with everything, it certainly wouldn't help to just sit and mope around.

 _Still...this looks cool and all, but I really wish I knew as to how to reverse this effect. What the-?!_

Just as soon as those thoughts left her mind, her hand, which was still holding the doorknob, it slowly started to turn back to normal. The claws and scales seemed to be going back into her skin. Sarah stood there completely frozen, until the transformation was complete. Once everything seemed to be back to normal, she quickly ran back to the mirror. Sure enough, her face was back to normal as well. Rolling up her sleeves, she found her arms being the skin color they always were.

"I...just...brains…"

Deciding the best course of action was to no longer think about whatever was happening and go onto deck. There she found the all of the Straw Hats, standing in the middle and looking up in the sky. Curious she followed their gazes.

"What the actual fuck?"

Her voice drew every single one of the pirate's attention towards her, but the newcomer didn't care at the moment. Up in the sky, one could see a stormfront coming closer and closer. The wind was already pretty strong, which made it possible for the Going Merry to pick up a good amount of speed.

"That looks pretty cool."

"I know, right?"

"GAH!"

Sarah punched Luffy in the face, who suddenly appeared in front of her vision. To her surprise, there were a lot of surprises these past hours already, the rubber man flew right across the deck, until he hit the mast. The girl had to blink at her own display of strength. While she was looking at her fist in wonder, the crew just shrugged it off.

"However strange that storm is, we have no choice but to sail through." Nami obviously continued a conversation that had been going on before. "Reverse Mountain is right in this direction and from the looks of things we'll be there in ten minutes tops. Get ready."

"Aye, aye!"

The crew left to their previously designated posts, except for Luffy, who stood up again and used his rubber abilities to get to the crows nest.

Nami in the meantime walked towards their uninvited guest, who had found herself out of her stupor.

"How about you make yourself useful?" the navigator asked.

"Uh...wha-? What? Hello? I already told you I know nothing about sailing. You'll be happy if I manage to distinguish starboard from larboard."

"Uaa…" Nami sighed, rubbing her forehead annoyed. "Then at least go somewhere where you won't be in the way."

Sarah resisted the urge to answer that order in any way. Nami was right, she needed to get out of the way, especially with the storm and Laboom coming-

She facepalmed. "Urrgh, how could I forget?" she muttered.

"Forget what?" Nami asked.

"Gah, you're still here?"

In response Nami just gave her a deadpan look.

 _Great work, Sarah. Great work._

"Just… … uh, I have heard stories about the entrance of the Grand Line."

"Stories?" Nami asked, now genuinely interested.

"Y-yeah." _Oh man, come up with something quick! If I say the wrong thing now of all times, I'm done for!_

"Supposedly….there's a gigantic fish...uh, I mean whale, yeah that's right, a giant whale is supposed to live at the entrance of the Grand Line, right on the other side of that Mountain."

"Really?"

"Well...I don't really know, you know?" Sarah fidgeted with her hands nervously. "I just heard some stories at the bar sometimes. It might be just that, a story."

"A whale, huh?"

Sanji walked up behind Sarah, carrying some rope. "If we had enough storage space, I might have been able to feed even that glutton over there." The cook nodded towards Luffy. "Miss, I must ask you to take Nami's advice and go under deck. Things are bound to get ruff from here on out."

Sarah was a little taken aback by being called "Miss". But moreover she was a little miffed that she was asked to be not on deck. Luckily she wasn't an impulsive person, well most of the time, and understood the logic of the Straw Hat's reasoning.

"All right." she sighed. "I'll just be...wherever that door leads to."

Sarah walked away from Sanji and opened the door. As it turned out, the door lead to some stairs and downstairs, the girl found what was obviously Nami's sleeping place. There was her bed, a desk, an oil lamp, a little commode and a few maps. Sadly there was no window, so she couldn't at least look outside to see what was going on.

As a result, she spend the next thirty minutes, plus, minus ten, just sitting on the edge of Nami's bed, waiting. That was until the ship started to shake, causing the girl to fall off.

"Ow! What the heck? Whoaaa!" Sarah slipped over the floor, until she hit the wall. Then the ship turned to the side and she was thrown against the other wall. And again. And again. And five more times, times two. And then the ship came to a full stop, causing the girl to hit her face right on the stairs.

"Arrgh! That's it!" she shouted, getting up. Quickly she ran up the stairs, only for the ship to title 45 decree. Naturally Sarah flew backwards and hit the ground.

"Ow~...I give up. Fuck you, world." she held up both middle fingers against the ceiling. For ten straight seconds she managed to lie on the ground peacefully. That is until the Going Merry reached the peak of Reverse Mountain, flying straight into the air. The momentum shot Sarah straight up and through the door. The girl screamed her lungs out, as she came closer and closer to Nami, who was also flying in mid-air, like the rest of the crew. The Navigator didn't know what hit her, when their guest crashed into her. Everyone dropped to the ground again, with Sarah landing straight on Nami's back.

"Ahhhhh, ummf! Huh, soft landing...AH!"

"GET OFF ME!" Nami shouted with razor teeth. With the help of some cartoon logic, she managed to send Sarah flying once again. This time the girl landed on the hard deck of the Merry.

"Ow...what did I do to deserve this?" the girl wined. She blinked twice. "Oh right, THAT!"

"LET'S GO!" Luffy shouted on top of his lungs, somehow being louder than the gigantic waterfall they were riding on. Sarah barely stood steady on her feet, so she grabbed the railing, before she possibly fell off the ship.

 _This is fucking madness! I'm glad I didn't break a bone back there, but this world! How long have I been here?! Look how crazy this world is. At least things should calm down for a while._

…

 _Oh wait…_

" **BOOOOOOOOO!"**

 _Just kill me now…_

Sarah ignored the ongoing dialogue and braced for impact. She had survived so far, so why should she die now? Well, if she would have remembered the episode correctly, she would have known that Luffy would shoot the front canon, in order to stop the ship. The sudden stop, caused the newcomer to fall over the ceiling and straight into the sea. At this point she didn't even scream anymore.

"Woman overboard!" shouted Sanji.

"SHH!" the rest of the crew hissed.

"MY SPECIAL SEAT!"

Sarah in the meantime was now full of energy, thanks to the shock the cold water gave her. Acting purely on instinct she swam up and up, until she finally was out of the water. Coughing up seawater, the girl struggled to keep herself afloat. Not an easy task, considering that she was wearing clothes. She just noticed how much they wore her down. On top of that there was also the current of the sea, which drifted her past Laboom!

 _What the-?! Oh, I hate this world, I hate this world, I hate this world, I hate this world!_

"DAMN YOU ODA!" she screamed on top of her lungs.

" **BOOOOOO!"**

"FUCK YOU TOO!"

….

O.o'

"aaaaAAAAAAAHHHH gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!"

 _Just kill me already._

FWHOOSH!

Before she could get sucked in, Luffy managed to grab her and pulled the girl on top of the whale.

"Yosh, you're safe." he breathed out, looking down at the girl. He could see her breathing, but she appeared to be too exhausted to even move. On top of that, the whale was slowly sinking into the sea! Looking around frantically, his eyes fell on a hatch, which was implemented in the skin of the whale. Luffy being Luffy, didn't question it. Instead he grabbed his passenger and headed towards the hedge.

XXXXXX

Inside the whale, Luffy quickly overcame his confusion of why there was a tunnel made of metal inside the whale and instead sat down in front of Sarah, waiting for the girl to wake up. Luckily he didn't have to wait long, as the girl slowly stirred and finally got up.

"Ngh, anyone got the number of that truck?"

"Ah, you're awake!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

Sarah in return looked at the Captain a little dumbfounded, until her brain was fully operating again.

"Oh yeah...that happened…" she breathed out. She then noticed her weird surroundings and took a look around. "Where the heck are we?"

"We're inside the whale!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Inside…?" Sarah rubbed her temples. "You know what? Fuck it." she stood up, the water dropping off her clothes. "How about we look around? We might be able to find your crew."

"Yosh, let's go!" Luffy pumped a fist into the air. Shaking her head, Sarah slowly walked ahead, the Straw Hat wearing pirate walking right behind her. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway, which smelled of fish. The air around them was a little warmer than outside too, which certainly helped Sarah, as else the water on her would have slowed her down significantly.

"Oh right." Sarah stopped all of the sudden.

"Hmm? What is it?" Luffy asked, blinking at her from behind.

"I just remembered, earlier in the water I was able to swim. Which means no one somehow made me eat a devil fruit."

"Huh…? Oh, I know! You mean, when you got all scaly!" Luffy pointed with his finger at her forehead, which the girl slapped away.

"Yes, that." The girl nodded. "The question now is, if we can rule out a devil fruit, what exactly-AHH!"

"Wh-what's going on?! The whole place is shaking! AAHHH!"

"I CURSE YOU EIICHIRO ODA!" ***BONK***

XXXXXX

For Sarah's taste she had enough unconscious experience for the next two months at least. She had woken up in Nami's bed, her head bandaged up and her body generally feeling like it was a piece of shit that had been thrown at a piece of shit.

Throwing the blanket off, she sincerely hoped it was Nami who changed her clothes. She now wore a plain white shirt, jeans and sandals. Her exposed arms showed just how pale her skin was, due to the lack of sunlight hitting it.

"Does this world somehow hate strangers?" she asked, getting up. She was about to open the door, when she heard a voice from the outside.

"When a group of jolly pirates came down from Reverse Mountain and into the Grand Line, swimming alongside their boat was a little whale. That whale was Laboon. Island Whales like him only inhabit the West Blue. They're the largest species of whale in the world."

Crocus pushed his glasses back up, a small smile on his face.

"It appears Laboon had been traveling with those pirates for quite some time. But they were now headed into the dangers of the Grand Line. They thought they had left him behind in the West Blue, but Laboon had followed them."

Sarah closed her eyes, her hand on the handle of the door. She had an idea. A completely, utterly stupid idea. An idea that might change things for the worse, possibly make things better, but for all she knew she just might crown Blackbeard the Pirate King. However that scenario would play out, she had no idea. But it was definitely better than leaving the poor whale in despair.

"So the stories were true." she said loud enough for the crew outside to hear it. Opening the door, she revealed herself and found the entire crew together, as well as the two Baroque Works agents tied up. She managed to get her attention away from them and back towards the crew and Croquus, "sailing" on his little metal island.

 _Damn this is weird._

"The story about the crew who left behind a dear friend, but never returned from the Grand Line." she continued, focusing on Crocus. The crew huh-ed at her, while the old man stared at her for a couple of seconds, before closing his eyes and nodding.

"It seems you have heard about this."

"Yeah." Sarah nodded, walking towards the railing and leaning against the wood.

"Some guy who apparently knew the crew came by one day at my home."

Now she had the full attention of Crocus and the rest of the crew. "Though he didn't tell me the friend that was left behind was a whale. Eh, whatever. Sad story really. Supposedly half of the crew got a disease from some island. Since they couldn't cure it, they split up, leaving the first mate in charge of the healthier half."

"Wait, what?!" Crocus had gotten up from his leaning chair and stared at the girl, who he treated just minutes ago.

"They split up?!" he asked.

"You didn't know?" Sarah faked her surprise. "Apparently after they got this disease, they decided to say: Fuck it, through the Calm Belt it is." she gestured with her hands. The others looked taken aback by this.

"The Calm Belt?!" Usopp screamed.

"They thought they had a better chance of surviving in the weaker seas and possibly find a doctor with a cure." Sarah shook her head. "The guy I met didn't know what happened to them. Safe to say, they're probably dead." she sighed, not in sadness, but more in relief that she managed to tell her story this well, without showing any signs of lying. "He got this story from the first mate of the other crew. Met them at some bar or something. Last thing he heard of them, they got defeated by some other pirates."

Crocus looked downcast. For some reason it appeared he didn't have any trouble accepting Sarah's story.

"I see. So they didn't ran after all."

"Huh?" Huh-ed the entire crew.

However, instead of answering, he jumped onto a ladder and climbed up to some sort of machinery.

"Wow, this is incredible." stated Nami.

"Yeah. It's hard treating a whale, when they're fully grown. Especially Island Whales."

"You're a doctor?" Luffy asked.

"That's right."

"Then you should be my ship's doctor!"

 _Something about this...oh man! I already changed something, didn't I? Well, it is something small so far..._

"Don't be stupid. Unlike you young'ins, I don't have the energy going around, doing foolhardy things anymore."

The old man proceeded to move a wheel, which then caused a pair of huge metal double doors to open. Without further ado, the Going Merry shipped to the outside. Sarah took in a deep breath, relieved that the smell of fish wasn't around her anymore. The old doctor followed them to the outside, continuing with the story.

"The last thing I found out was that the crew had high tailed out of the Grand Line. Thank you, girl. At least I now know the truth. It might even be a relief to Laboon." He looked at the whale.

"Oh, the thing is, the story isn't over." she grinned.

"Really?" Sanji asked. "I mean everyone died. It's a tragedy, but that's how it is. What else could there be?"

"Well…" Sarah scratched her head "the guy who came to my town claimed to have sold a Devil Fruit to the crew. The first mate is the one who ate it and SUPPOSEDLY" she held out both arms "I don't know if it's true, but SUPPOSEDLY it was the Revive Fruit."

"R-R-Revive?!" Nami screamed. "Revive as in…"

"As in coming back from the dead." Sarah finished.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry, had a lot of stuff to do these past weeks.**

"The Resurrect Fruit?" Usopp asked, titling his head. "I don't know. I mean Devil Fruits are pretty scary, but can such a fruit really exist?" the sniper ask.

"Hell if I know. I'm just retelling the story." Sarah shrugged. "Heard a bunch of them over the years. I never really figured out which were true and which were false. I just know the Grand Line is badshit crazy. And hey, at least the whale got some kind of hope. Damn, that thing is fucking huge." she muttered the last part looking at the whale, which was still calmly floating in the sea.

"The Grand Line is full of mysteries." Crocus said, his arms crossed. "The impossible becomes possible in these wild seas. But you're right in one thing. It is better to have some kind of hope, than none. Although, if Brook didn't make it back after 50 years…" Crocus shook his head. "I don't want to give Laboon false hope."

Sanji breathed out of his cigarette, looking into the sky. "Well, there is always the chance this guy might be still alive. Maybe he got stuck somewhere."

"Maybe." the old doctor echoed. "I guess it'll be better for Laboon to hold onto that hope. Just look at those scars. For fifty years he's been hitting his head against the mountain, believing his nakama would return from the other side of that wall."

"That's one dedicated whale." Sanji commented.

"He was so afraid of losing his reason to wait, he just couldn't accept it. There's no way for him to return home to the West Blue. But-"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU DOING?!"

 ***BONK***

The Straw Hats and Crocus looked to the side and found the Captain lying on the ground, a giant, steaming bump coming out of his head. Above him stood Sarah, her right hand still a fist and looking a little bit pissed off.

"What was that for?~" Luffy whined from his position.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe for trying to take out the mast?! Have you lost it?!"

The crew didn't look too impressed at their captain.

"He tried what?" Usopp asked in a deadpan.

"Somehow I'm not surprised anymore." Nami said in the same deadpan voice.

"Don't get in my way!" Luffy jumped up, yelling at the girl. "This guy destroyed my special seat!" he motioned with his hands towards the broken off figurehead.

"Do you want us to drown or something?!" Sarah yelled back. "If you keep this up, it won't take very long and you can say goodbye to your precious ship! Do you want your ship to sink in the middle of the sea, with no help in sight?"

"...No." Luffy pouted, looking away.

 _Wow. He's actually listening._ Sarah blinked surprised. "Good. 'Cause next time you do something to the ship, I'm gonna cut your throat!" She held up her hand towards his throat, the hand instantly turning into a claw. Luffy sweated, feeling the sharp claws against his skin, while the ship's guest just stood there dumbfounded.

"How the heck…?" She pulled back her claw, which turned back. Just in time too, as Zoro had been ready to cut her in half. He silently sheathed his swords again, making a mental note to keep an even bigger eye on their so called "guest".

"So, it's true." The swordsman heard Crocus mutter. "Interesting…" the old man turned around and walked towards Laboon, petting the whale with his hand.

XXXXXX

Luckily it looked like Luffy wasn't going through with whatever plan he had, for once. While Nami was on the main island, deciding their next course, it turned out that their two prisoners had slipped away. No one really cared, except Sarah, who did her best not to look concerned about them. She was currently leaning against the railing, watching Crocus sitting on the whale and talking to him. The whale had tears in his eyes and was "booing" in a low tone. Usopp in the meantime was trying to get the figurehead back at it's original place. Sanji had retreated to the kitchen and Luffy was doing whatever he was doing. As long as he didn't destroy the ship, no one bothered to look after him. Finally there was Zoro. He was sleeping. What else?

"That Luffy…" Usopp muttered, hammering against the wood. "He's the bane of my existence."

Behind him, Sarah let out a giggle. 

"And what are you laughing at?!" the sniper shouted.

"At you, of course."

"Urrgh…"

"By the way, where are my clothes? And who patched me up?" she pointed at her bandaged head.

"Oh that was the old man. He said you would be fine, though."

"Huh. Guess I have to thank him."

"As for your clothes, they're down in the washroom, hanging to dry."

"That won't be enough." the girl frowned. "I still have to get the salt out. Urrgh, didn't think I'd need to ask this, but could you show me where I can clean my clothes?"

"Uh...sure." the sharpshooter blinked. "As soon as I'm done here. Just a minute."

XXXXX

Despite the sharpshooter's believes, Sarah didn't make him pump up water. Instead she did it herself. It was harder than it looked and in all actuality she had forgotten the ship was equipped with such a thing. But then again it was hardly shown in the show, maybe once. The bathroom basically functioned as a washroom. Usopp also took his time explaining how thoroughly clean the room after usage.

"We don't want the place to get all moisted, ya know?"

"Makes sense." Sarah nodded. "Having the ship rotting from the inside, not so nice. Alright thanks a lot."

"Oi, oi, don't think we're friends just because of that. I have an eye on you, I tell you!"

"Sure…"

"AHHH!"

"That sounded like Nami!" the sniper shouted, running on deck. Sarah chased after the sniper, but stopped when she saw him jump down onto the shore. The girl hesitated a moment, as she normally wouldn't jump from such a height. But seeing as Usopp, the arguably weakest member of the crew, managed to land on the stone without breaking a leg or something similar, she mimicked his jumped and barely managed to land in a crouched position. She blinked, as nothing on her body seemed to be even hurting in the slightest.

"The compass is broken!" Nami's voice brought Sarah out of her stupor. She followed the sniper up a rope ladder. On top of the cliff she almost came face to plate with a five star, fish cooked menu.

"Holy…"

While Nami was complaining about the broken compass, Sarah made sure to slowly walk around Sanji (who was holding three plates at once), in order to not get face first into the food.

"Round and round it goes." commented Usopp looking at the "broken compass". Before Crocus could say his line, Sarah decided to intervene.

"Normal compasses don't work on the Grand Line." she explained. Luffy, Usopp and Nami looked up to her curiously.

"Then how are we supposed to Navigate?" asked Nami.

"Let me explain. The islands on the Grand Island are basically giant magnets, messing around with the compass. Each of these "magnets" has his own field. In order to get to an island we need to get a special compass, called a Log Pose."

"A Log Pose? Hey, wait a minute! How do you know that?" Nami put her hands on her hips, to which the other woman could only give her a deadpan glare.

"Maybe because I wasn't born in one of the four blues? Be glad you have someone who at least knows basic stuff about the Grand Line."

"Lucky for you" Crocus walked up to the group, with a Log Pose in hand "I happen to have a spare one." He handed the delicate instrument over to Nami, who looked at it in wonder. "What the girl said is true. There are special minerals on each island, which create these magnetic fields. A Log Pose can lock onto these fields and will pinpoint at the direction where the island is. Once there, the Log Pose will lock onto the next island, after a certain amount of time has passed. How much time, that depends on the island you're on. From here you can chose one of seven routes. From then you will travel from island to island, until you reach the final one-"

"Raftel." Sarah finished, smiling. "You know" she looked over to Nami and Usopp "depending on how things go, I might stick around."

Sanji immediately came over dancing, saying stuff that sounded like flirting, but else was incomprehensible. The other two gave her a deadpan stare.

"We'll see." they echoed.

"Yosh, I'm full! Let's set sail!"

Sarah choked, upon seeing Luffy having devoured all the food. It was completely different from the TV-Show, since she had seen just how much fish there really had been. While Sanji and Usopp yelled at their captain, Sarah walked over to Crocus.

"Hey, I almost forgot, I wanted to say thank you for patching me up."

"It's no problem. I was just doing my duty as a doctor. I have to thank you, Dragonborn, for giving me and Laboon at least a ray of hope."

Sarah titled her head, both confused and intrigued. "Dragonborn? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

It was Crocus turn to look surprised. "You don't know what a Dragonborn is?"

"Assuming that it is someone with dragon eyes" she pointed at her own "and capable in transforming into some kind of human lizard...I just happen to discover this power today." She giggled. "You know, I'm in a funny situation. I want to know more, but at the same time the past two days have given me the greatest headache of all time. I'm kinda afraid that once you start explaining, my head will explode."

There was the sound of splashing water in the background. Sarah shrugged it off, as Laboon playing.

"Unfortunately I think you will need this information. You see, a couple of hundreds years ago, the last Dragonborn had been hunted down and killed by the World Government. Not much is known about them, aside from the history books all describing them as evil monsters."

Sarah rubbed her temples. "What? I don't get it. Monsters? Could you elaborate?"

Crocus crossed his arms. "Unfortunately the only other thing I know or can at least guess, is that your anatomy has similarities with a lizard."

The girl in front of the old doctor took in a deep breath and then exhaled it slowly. "Okay. I'm now going back to the ship and then I'm going to repeatedly bang my head against the wall. It was nice meeting you, Crocus."

XXXXXX

Cleaning her clothes turned out to be not as tedious as getting rid of all the water she used. By the time she was done they had been sailing for quite some time, though without a clock it was impossible to tell for how long exactly. The entire time she tried not to think of what Crocus told her, as it would only give her a stronger headache, than she already had. After she was done with her work, the so called "Dragonborn" walked into the kitchen, where she found Nami, Vivi and the agent sitting on the table. She tensed up for a second, before walking in.

"Who's she?" Vivi asked with her evil persona.

 _Damn, is it part of royal training going to an acting club? She's really convincing._

"No one you should bother yourself with." Nami waved off.

Sarah placed herself next to Vivi, letting out a breath she didn't notice she had been holding.

"Is it just me or is it getting colder?" Sarah asked into the room.

"Now that you mention it" Vivi next to her pulled her clothes together "it really is cold, isn't it?"

"Feels like it." The agent added his two berry, rubbing his arms.

Nami was about to scold the trio, when she too noticed how cold it was.

"What is going on?" she asked, passing by the window. A second later she ran back and saw that it was snowing outside!

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH?!"

*five minutes later*

"I know the Grand Line is supposed to have crazy weather…" Sarah shivered sipping on the tea Sanji provided her and the others with "...but thunder, while it snows? Brrr." Her entire body was shaking like a leaf in a storm. The others were faring much better than her for some reason.

"I don't get it! I just checked the Log Pose a minute ago! And the waves were so tame..."

"Are you really a navigator?" Vivi asked, pissing Nami off.

"On this ocean the wind, the sky, the waves, the clouds, you can't trust any of it. The only thing you can trust is the direction the Log Pose's needle points. Get it now?"

As an answer Nami somehow managed to kick all three of them out of the room. They all landed uncomfortably on the deck, barely catching Nami's orders to help out.

For some reason Sarah really struggled to get up. While Vivi and Mr. 9 were already on the ropes, she was still on her knees.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Nami shouted. "Get up!"

"I-I'm trying." Sarah said with chattering teeth. "S-something's...w-w-w-wrong w-w-w-with m-m-m-me!"

"I'll help you, my lovely Sarah-chwan!"

 _Sarah-chwan? Really? Nngh, too cold to think about that. Way too cold. I can barely even move! What the fuck?!_

Luckily for her Sanji helped her to get up. And just as she stood the weather changed in the course of a second. A warm spring breeze was coming against their faces and in a matter of seconds Sarah could stand on her own again.

"Thanks SanjIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The spring breeze easily had turned into a spring storm, so to speak. The Going Merry was shaking in the waves, the crew ran around frantically trying to cope with the weather. Sarah helped out where she could, mostly with the steer rudder. Sanji was there with her, too focused on the work than to flirt with her. The girl mostly followed the man's lead, having a hard time keeping herself on her feet. She remembered in the episode this situation was resolved in a matter of two minutes. Too bad for her, the storm of weather changes lasted hours! She needed to turn the steer rudder so often, she didn't even have time to complain inside her head. At one point, when it was a little calmer, Sanji left, saying he was going to get some snacks. She was left alone, trying to keep the rudder under control against the raging sea.

What felt like an eternity later, Sanji came back with some rice balls.

"Here, eat those. It will keep the energy going."

"Thanks." With one hand she grabbed a rice ball, while with the other she desperately tried to keep the ship on course. Sanji grabbed the steer with both hands.

"Sit down for a while. I can handle it from here." he assured.

"If you say so…" she said uneasily, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the wall. Not really caring about the taste, she stuffed the balls inside her mouth, eager to get something into her stomach.

"Damn! I NEEDED that!" she exclaimed. Prior to this, she didn't even notice her body had been running on reserves.

"ICEBERG AHEAD!" came Usopp's voice.

"AGAIN?!" she and Sanji shouted at the same time. The first one had already done some damage to the ship.

"This ocean is nuts!" Sarah shouted.

"I have to agree with you there!" Sanji shouted back, smiling wryly.

XXXXXX

Finally it was over. Sarah couldn't feel her arms anymore, after having to fight the might of the ocean for hours straight. The rest of the crew didn't look much better, everyone lying around deck or in Luffy's case on the.

"I feel like shit…" the so called dragonborn moaned from her resting spot.

"I think I'm gonna diiiiieeee…." Usopp groaned.

"Die in silence." Sanji groaned himself.

Right next to her, Sarah heard Zoro letting out a hearty yawn, before standing up, completely oblivious to the girl lying next to him. He walked onto the middle of the deck and commented on how lazy everyone was.

 _I should have kicked him in the face._ The girl thought to herself.

"Why're you two on board?" The swordsman asked the almost passed out Vivi and Mr. 9.

"We're heading towards their town." Luffy explained who made a miracle recovery and was now sitting on the upper part of the Merry. "The place is called Whiskey Peak."

"You mean we're giving them a lift? This isn't becoming a habit is it?" Zoro asked, nodding towards Sarah, who was still lying on the ground like most of the crew.

"Eh, it's just for a short while." Luffy shrugged. "Besides, the more the merrier, right?"

"Not that I care." the green haired man waved off, before turning towards the new guest. The two "agents" were now in sitting position, nervously looking up to the swordsman. "My, these look like faces that plan nasty things. Tell me, what were your names again?"

"M-Miss Wednesday." Vivi answered with a twitch in her eye.

"P-please call me Mr. 9." The man answered with the same twitch.

 _Seriously, that crown just looks ridiculous. And how is it that he still has that thing? I mean SOMEONE must have the idea of stealing that thing at one point or another. Come to think of it, why didn't Nami try to snatch it?_

"AH! Urrgh, nghn!"

 _Speak of the devil._ Sarah smirked. It was just so satisfying to actually see the swordsman getting hit by Nami, after he just slept through the whole storm.

"Stay on your toes everyone." Nami stepped into the center of the ship, getting everyone's attention. "Who knows what might happen next? I can finally grasp the fearsomeness of this ocean. I understand why they call it the Grand Line."

 _Maybe because it looks like a straight line on the map?_

"But it hasn't even begun to see MY navigation skills! "Bet on it!"

"Well…" Sarah spoke up for the first time since the storm. "I'd say you left a pretty good first impression." The others noticed the girl standing on the front of the ship, her back turned towards the ocean. With a thump she pointed towards a white mist, through which you could see a bunch of green hills in the distance.

Everyone ran towards and stared in awe at the island in the distance.

"Land ho!" Luffy shouted, who jumped on top of Merry's head.

"So this is Whiskey Peak." Sanji commented with a smile. "Sure is a weird looking island."

"Check out those huge cacti!" Luffy pointed at the largest one.

"Makes you think why they didn't just call it, I dunno "Cactus Island"?" The dragonborn girl asked nonchalantly, hiding the pure awe she was feeling herself. In the anime, Whiskey Peak didn't look all that awe inspiring, but seeing this for herself, she couldn't wait to see the other islands, the real good looking ones.

The sound of two pairs of shoes simultaneously hitting the railing.

"This is our stop."

"Thank you for the ride, my honeys."

"We'll meet again if it is to be."

"Bye, bye baby!" They both shouted and jumped into the ocean. Sarah blinked stupefied, seeing them swimming three times as fast as the ship.

"Those two are some good swimmers." she commented, before suddenly feeling the need to use the restroom. Without anyone asking where she goes and with at least having an idea what's going to happen next, the girl retired.

 _My muscles having ached like this, ever since the time Dad gave me and Cast self-defense lessons. And I haven't even gotten into a fight yet._

…

 _Alright Luffy DID try to kill me, but he would have kept me alive for questioning. Probably about where I put the meat, since he thought I was a meat thief._

 _So far the others aren't questioning me, which is pretty stupid on their part, but who knows how long that will last? I think I need to be a bit more subtle with my hints, unlike what I did with Crocus, basically telling him that Brook is still around and kicking._


End file.
